Texan horrorpunk band Ghoultown rode into Toronto last weekend for Rue Morgue Magazine’s Festival of Fear and delivered a rockin’ and robust performance during Friday night’s Shocktail party at The Courthouse venue.

The Worldwide Short Film Festival is currently underway in Toronto, and horror fans will want to hit The Bloor Cinema tonight just before midnight for the “Creepy” portion of the festival’s two-night Midnight Mania programme. (The “Freaky” section, which is bizarre but not really horror, plays tomorrow night at the Royal Ontario Museum.)

Is I Spit on Your Grave misogynist trash or feminist horror? That question has been asked ever since director Meir Zarchi put out Day of the Woman back in 1978. You likely know it by its more outrageous title, which distributors used when they re-released Day in 1980, minus the MPAA-induced cuts which bowdlerized much of the brutality from Zarchi’s rape-revenge story.

Today is 73rd birthday of Barbara Steele, star of such horror classics as Black Sunday, The Pit & the Pendulum, the original Piranha and Nightmare Castle. Those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Steele, start with Black Sunday (1960), her only collaboration with Italian director Mario Bava. Her dark beauty and irresistible sensuality have made her a favourite of horror fans for decades and inspired many acts of devotion, including this one by yours truly:

I always get a thrill picking up Rue Morgue‘s Halloween issue each year, not only because my writing is inside but because it’s always a thing of beauty. This year’s 13th anniversary edition is no different, with a cover story on the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho which turns 50 this year. And look at that cover, courtesy of art director Gary Pullin. Norman’s almost pretty enough to kiss!

Issue 105 of RM hits stands October 1 and here’s a rundown of what you can expect. Go buy it!

Rue Morgue Magazine‘s Festival of Fear, headlined by David Cronenberg, is over again for another year (boo!), and we were there, meeting fellow horror peeps at the Rue Morgue booth, getting hammered at the parties and taking photos of all of it. Here’s proof of Friday’s debauchery: